BNY, one of the world’s largest custody and asset-servicing banks, is in discussions with Payward, the Wyoming-based parent of crypto exchange Kraken, about a wide-ranging partnership covering digital assets and financial-market infrastructure. The talks remain private and may not result in a completed agreement.
According to CoinDesk, two people familiar with the matter said the potential arrangement could include crypto products, custody, trading, payments, wealth management and other infrastructure services. Payward would provide these capabilities through Payward Services, its business-to-business platform for banks, exchanges, asset managers and other financial companies.
The discussions come as Payward seeks to position itself as more than a cryptocurrency exchange operator. BNY, meanwhile, already provides custody, asset servicing, clearing and wealth-management services to institutional clients and has been developing infrastructure intended to support digital-asset activity.
What the proposed partnership could cover
The possible agreement would bring together BNY’s established institutional-finance operations and Payward’s digital-asset technology and market platforms. The areas under discussion are broad:
- Digital-asset products and custody
- Trading and payments
- Wealth-management services
- Financial-market and operational infrastructure
One person familiar with the talks said parts of the proposed arrangement could resemble the infrastructure element of Payward’s recent commercial agreement with Nasdaq. That comparison does not mean the BNY partnership has been agreed, and discussions are still ongoing.
Payward Services is designed to offer financial infrastructure to businesses rather than only provide access to Kraken’s exchange. The company’s wider product range includes spot crypto trading, derivatives, tokenized equities, custody, staking, payments and traditional securities. Its institutional platform is aimed at banks, fintech companies, brokerages, payment firms and other financial-market participants.
Neither Payward nor BNY commented on the discussions. Because the talks are private, the sources spoke without being identified. There is no guarantee that the companies will reach a deal.
Why the talks matter for Payward and BNY
A partnership with BNY would support Payward’s effort to connect its digital-asset operations with traditional financial institutions. That strategy reflects a broader shift in the company’s business model: instead of operating only as a crypto exchange, Payward is building services that can sit behind banks, exchanges, asset managers and other regulated-market businesses.
BNY has also been expanding its focus on digital-asset infrastructure. The bank has been developing tokenized deposits intended to support near-real-time, onchain settlement between institutional market participants. Tokenization generally refers to representing an asset or financial claim digitally on a blockchain or similar network; onchain settlement is the completion of a transaction using such a network.
The potential BNY relationship follows Payward’s growing activity across financial services. The company agreed in April to acquire U.S. crypto-derivatives firm Bitnomial for as much as $550 million. It later agreed to a $600 million acquisition of stablecoin-payments company Reap. Those transactions followed Payward’s approximately $1.5 billion purchase of retail futures platform NinjaTrader in 2025.
Payward has therefore been assembling capabilities across trading, payments, derivatives and infrastructure. A stablecoin is a digital asset designed to maintain a stable value relative to an underlying reference, often a fiat currency. In Payward’s case, the Reap deal adds a payments-focused business to a platform that already includes exchange and market-infrastructure operations.
Nasdaq agreement provides a recent comparison
Nasdaq Ventures agreed last month to invest $100 million in Payward at a valuation of $21 billion, while the companies expanded their work on tokenized equities. Under that arrangement, Nasdaq and Payward plan to continue developing the operational and commercial infrastructure for Nasdaq Equity Tokens.
Payward will also adopt Nasdaq’s market-surveillance technology across its crypto, equities, tokenized-equities, futures and options venues. Market surveillance refers to systems used to monitor trading activity and identify potentially improper or irregular behavior.
The companies expect to launch Nasdaq Equity Tokens in the second quarter of 2027. The initiative is intended to connect Nasdaq’s regulated markets with Payward’s xStocks ecosystem while preserving shareholder rights, regulatory protections and issuer control.
The Nasdaq deal illustrates the kind of institutional infrastructure collaboration that could provide a framework for discussions between BNY and Payward. It also highlights how established financial companies and digital-asset firms are working on systems that combine traditional market structures with blockchain-based products.
Moneyiar market picture
Moneyiar data at 8:58-8:59 a.m. on October 3, 2026, showed mixed performance among the tracked assets:
- Celestia (TIA): $0.4450215522, down 3.74% over 24 hours and 8.93% over seven days.
- AKEDO (AKE): $0.0327180849, up 4.45% over 24 hours and down 1.77% over seven days.
- REAL (ASSET): $0.2064633669, up 6.73% over 24 hours and down 11.53% over seven days.
- Astar (ASTR): $0.0073366656, down 1.86% over 24 hours and 2.58% over seven days.
The talks with BNY also come as Payward develops its corporate plans. CoinDesk reported last month that the company had postponed its planned initial public offering until the second quarter of 2027 at the earliest, after previously shelving the listing amid difficult market conditions. The timing and structure of any BNY partnership remain undecided.
